


corps a corps

by lancede



Category: Fence (Comics)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Just Take My Jacket, M/M, Pining, ft. seiji's gay panics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-10 22:31:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13511103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lancede/pseuds/lancede
Summary: was planning on writing just a cute "take my jacket" moment but these things set themselves up okay?





	corps a corps

 

The gym is quiet. Nicholas tries to focus as he jabs his epee into the wall target, over and over and over. His form is absolutely terrible today, and with every lunge, at least something comes to mind.

_Thunk_. He's bent his wrist.

_Thunk_. He's over-extended.

_Thunk_. He's straightened out of _en garde_.

_Thunk_. He's stepped forward before extending.

Nick steps back, his arm already feeling dead and rubbery. He shakes his hand to try to loosen up his muscles.

This morning, it's just him and Seiji-- for once, that annoying coach isn't there. From what Nicholas has gathered from Seiji's phone call (he was _not_ eavesdropping), Dmytro's gotten caught in the snow outside.

So it's just the two of them. Not that it matters or anything. They've been alone together countless times already, although usually on either side of a duck curtain.

If anything, the wide and empty space of the gym just seems to amplify Seiji's presence. Nicholas steals a glance every so often, and of course, Seiji is always in perfect form, executing graceful ballestras and flawless fleches.

" _Attention all students_ ," buzzes a voice over the gym intercom. " _Due to inclement weather, classes today will be delayed. Please report immediately to your dorm. The doors will lock in thirty minutes._ "

With that, there's a clap of feedback, and the announcement ends. Nicholas scratches his head. Usually it's the principal making the announcements, but this time, the voice sounds oddly distorted.

Well, anyway. Thirty minutes is plenty of time to get back, Nick thinks.

With one last violent lunge, Nick drives his epee into the target, and he nearly topples over his own feet as he loses his balance. Behind him, there's a sudden silence as Seiji's stopped whatever he's doing. Nick's face burns red-- he's sure Seiji has seen that.

It just isn't fair. Nicholas wakes up early every single morning to train and improve his fencing, but with Seiji there, Nicholas leaves feeling even more inadequate.

\---

As always, Seiji takes care not to make eye contact with Nicholas. The two fencers change out of their gear in silence, staying on opposite sides of the locker room. Nick and Seiji finish changing at about the same time, and they walk towards the gym exit together. Well, _together_ isn't really the right term. Seiji trails 7 or 8 feet behind Nick, careful to keep a reasonable amount of space between them.

Not too close-- Seiji's not in the mood to get a faceful of furious Nicholas-- but not too far, either, as Seiji doesn't want to get locked out in a snowstorm.

Nick opens the gym door, and Seiji is struck with torrent of freezing air.

Seiji is also struck with a dilemma.

_Does Seiji walk faster to catch up? This defies the law of stay-away-from-Nicholas, but on the off chance that Nick holds the door for him, he'll have to do the_ fast-walk _. So, better to keep walking as is. Nick's more likely to spit in his face, anyway, and there's no point in embarrassing himself. Besides, at this distance speeding up wouldn't do anything. Would it? He should have paid more attention in math class. Anyway. Maybe he'll just fall back on the default strategy: pretend Nicholas doesn't exist. No problem._

Nick holds the door.

_And this is now really bad. What should he do? Nick's not looking back at Seiji, in fact, he's staring pointedly forward, one arm half-heartedly propping the door open. Seiji feels like he should speed up, but that seems... well... Nick might get suspicious. Of something or another. So Seiji maintains his pace for the next few feet. Inside his head, there's a voice screaming at him to hurry up, to not make Nick stand there in the doorway (it's freezing cold outside!). Seiji caves and walks a bit faster._

_And here's the next problem. Nick's blocking the door partially. Not on purpose, it's just a small door. Or is it on purpose? Is he trying to start a fight? What should Seiji do? He can walk right through, potentially jostling Nicholas. Or Seiji can carefully step through, or he can just stop in front of the door and wait until Nick lets go. Nah, too late for that, Seiji's just going to muster his courage and go for it. He's stepping through the door, Nicholas is inches away, don't panic, why would he panic anyway, walk normally, fluid movements, why do his limbs feel like they're shutting down?_

_And-- oh, no. Seiji feels he should probably say something, shouldn't he. Should he say thank you? No, he's already got his back to Nick, it's too late. Better late than never? True, but he feels that he can't just say, "thank you." Too... cliche._

By the time Seiji realizes how idiotic that thought is, Nick lets go of door and keeps walking.

_Yep, he hates me_ , Seiji thinks dejectedly. But he pushes that thought aside. Seiji has more important things to consider-- walking speed for instance.

_He's walking in front of Nick, now, so this is an important issue. Is he walking too slow? Nick's going to get cold. Worse, they might get locked out. But if he walks faster, Nick will think he's trying to avoid him. Normal speed it is..._

\---

As Nick trudges across the icy field to the dorms, red sneakers crunching through snow, he thinks about what he'll have for breakfast. As an afterthought, he notices that Seiji's walking kind of slowly. Probably rubbing in the fact that he's got a thick, fluffy, almost knee-length winter coat shrugged over his training jacket. Nick frowns and huffs, speed-walking a circle around Seiji.

He makes it back to the Castello dorm in no time. Nicholas exhales in relief as he reaches for the entry door's handle, ready to shed his excuse for a hoodie and be greeted by real, cozy warmth.

Nicholas pulls at the doorknob. There's an answering click.

It's locked.

Behind him, there's the _crunch_ of boots as Seiji joins him at the door.

"Locked?" Seiji asks snobbishly. Nicholas glares at him.

"Yeah," he snaps. Seiji frowns.

"Didn't you hear that announcement? They _said_ they were locking down."

"Well, it's your fault for not walking faster!"

Seiji's face flushes pink. " _My_ fault?"

Nick kind of regrets that jab, but he turns away and sticks his nose into the air, an admittedly exaggerated imitation of Seiji. Nick crosses his arms, too, but that's just to stay warm. He's really mourning his lack of heavier clothing, and he does his best not to glance enviously at Seiji's coat.

Another gust of wind whistles through the field, and it feels like epees of ice are shooting straight through Nicholas. He shivers, barely disguising the motion as a shudder of disgust and disappointment.

Nicholas kicks up a spray of snow with his feet. And... now his toes are wet and freezing cold, too. He paces around and around, desperate to get some feeling back in his legs.

And then he stops in his tracks, confronted by a faceful of faux fur. Seiji's holding out his coat to him.

\---

Seiji risks a glance at Nick's face, and watches as his expression morphs from confusion, to amazement, to suspicion, and finally to a sort of flustered embarrassment.

"Hey, no," Nicholas protests, pawing away the coat. Seiji clenches his teeth and continues to hold the coat out.

_Can Nick tell he's dying on the inside? Not because it's so cold wearing just his training jacket. No, it's because he can't stand watching Nicholas shiver with the cold, face pale, nose red, breath pluming. Watching Nicholas huddle down and try to hide in the folds of that ridiculously thin hoodie puts Seiji in physical_ pain _. For once, Seiji doesn't feel the need to overthink his actions. Giving Nicholas his jacket is just something... unquestionable._

"Stop it. I am _not_ cold!"

"Just take the coat," Seiji says through gritted teeth.

"Wear your own coat!" retorts Nick. He pushes it away.

Seiji holds the coat back out to him. Nick pushes it away. Seiji shoves it back. Nick pushes it away. The process repeats until eventually, Seiji hurls the coat at Nick and steps out of reach. Of course, Nicholas gathers the coat in his hands and throws it back to Seiji, a stubborn gleam in his eye.

"I _said_ I'm not cold!" Nicholas insists.

Seiji huffs in frustration and tosses the coat at Nick's feet. The crazy boy makes no motion to pick it up.

"Well, I'm calling Coach to let us in," Seiji says, pulling out his cell phone.

Ah. Just his luck.

"No signal," Seiji mutters.

Out of the corner of Seiji's eye, he sees Nicholas shiver again, his entire body practically shuddering. Um. No. Seiji is not going to tolerate this any longer.

He strides over to Nicholas, picks up the coat, and forcibly places it on his shoulders. Nicholas swipes at his hands half-heartedly, and Seiji catches his fingers-- they're like ice cubes. Seiji's heart is screaming at him for not doing this sooner.

"Don't you dare take it off," Seiji warns.

\---

Nicholas immediately moves to take the coat off, because screw Seiji Katayama, but Seiji's faster than him, deftly snapping the coat buttons together in quick succession and flicking up the hood. In seconds, Nick is swathed in a toasty warm cocoon.

To be honest, it's not all that bad. Nick sniffs the coat collar warily. It smells vaguely like expensive shampoo, like hazelnuts and chocolate. More than that, though, it smells like something distinctly Seiji. Which again, is actually not all that bad.

Nicholas shrugs his shoulders up and hides his nose in the depths of the coat, his face aching with relief. It feels like _centuries_ since he's been warm. Nick flicks his eyes up to look at Seiji, intending to mutter a reluctant thanks, but he pauses. Although of course Seiji looks as unruffled and as elegant as ever, he's also freezing cold. Nothing really tips it off-- Seiji's not shivering like Nick was. It's just something in the way he's standing, in the way he's shoved his hands in his pockets.

Nick hums and considers this.

_Well, it's a big coat_ , he thinks.

\---

Seiji nearly has a heart attack when Nick starts popping the buttons of his coat open, and almost definitely has a mild aneurysm when Nick shrugs the other side of the coat around Seiji's shoulders.

Seiji isn't really thinking verbally in those few seconds-- it's more just a sheer wave of feverish gay panic.

"I still hate you, you know," Nick grumbles, pulling the coat closed.

"Uh," Seiji responds intelligently, and nearly dies right there on the spot. They're pressed together chest to chest, _corps a corps_ , face to face, nose to nose.

Seiji is only an inch taller than Nick, and he now desperately wishes that one of them was shorter than the other, so he didn't have to deal with Nick being _right there_ , didn't have to meet the gaze of coffee-colored eyes, didn't have to feel Nick's breath ghosting across his lips.

In some distant corner of his mind, Seiji realizes he's closer than he's ever been to Nicholas, including the times Nicholas has shoved into Seiji's personal space mid-argument. And it's hard enough to concentrate then, with a good cubic foot of fury-charged air between them.

But now Nick's not feet away, he's not even inches away. He's more like centimeters away, millimeters away. Seiji doesn't realize he's leaning forward until he feels Nick's nose against his cheek. Nick's eyelashes flutter against his skin. Their lips aren't touching. Not quite. There's another breath of warm air between them, but Seiji can't bring himself to move any further, even though Seiji's sure he's going to go mad any second.

Almost impulsively, Nicholas closes the distance and kisses Seiji squarely on the mouth. Just as quickly, Nick yanks away, his face flushing bright red.

"Er, I didn't--"

He never does finish that sentence, though, as Seiji chases those receding lips and kisses Nicholas again, locking their mouths together. Nicholas makes a muffled noise, and after a moment, starts kissing Seiji back. Seiji revels in how soft Nick's lips are, he tastes the sour sweetness of pickles. And Nicholas is just so... Nicholas. Seiji presses closer and kisses harder. It's possible that Seiji whimpers a little bit, too, but he doesn't really care. He's kissing Nick. And Nicholas wraps his arms around him snugly, and they kiss, and kiss, and kiss.

\---

It takes a while for someone to open the door, but to Nicholas, it feels like only seconds have passed. Mostly because he's, you know, _kissing Seiji Katayama._

But someone does eventually open the door. This certain someone is Bobby Rodriguez.

Even enfolded in the thick fur of Seiji's coat, Nick nearly goes deaf as the small brunet lets out an inhuman screech of excitement. Strangely, a small horde of people suddenly charges out of a classroom-- Aiden, Harvard, Eugene, Tanner, Kally, and a good chunk of the Kings Row population. Very reluctantly, Seiji and Nick part to confront them.

"Were you all _waiting_ in there the whole time?" Nicholas asks in disbelief, and judging from the smug grins covering the students' faces, the answer is yes.

"You locked us out," Seiji realizes.

"Yep!" Aiden chirps, ignoring Seiji's death glare, "It was Harvard's idea!"

Harvard beams at the two of them innocently as the rest of the students begin to disperse. Angrily, Nick shrugs off Seiji's coat and marches up to Harvard.

"We could have gotten hypothermia," Nicholas snarls.

"But you didn't!" Aiden interjects, throwing his arm around Harvard's shoulders. "Instead, you stopped trying to deny your crush on your roommate and--"

"Gah!" Nicholas yelps, trying in vain to muffle Aiden.

"--it was _so_ obvious, I mean, literally everyone noticed," Aiden teases. "Oh, except the crush himself."

"I'm gonna murder you where you stand," Nick threatens, and Seiji tugs him back.

"Let's go," Seiji tells him, and they walk away together, heading towards nowhere in particular.

Eventually, almost tentatively, Seiji breaks the silence.

"You had a crush on me?" Seiji asks. Nick glares at him-- Nick can tell his own face is bright red, but in consolation, Seiji is blushing too.

"Yeah," Nicholas mutters.

"I did too," Seiji blurts out. The two of them stop walking. They make eye contact. Nick grins and raises an eyebrow. Seiji laughs. The world brightens. The two of them resume walking side by side.

Hesitantly, Nicholas takes Seiji's hand. Seiji interlaces their fingers, and Nick feels as if he'll explode from happiness.

"It's funny that Aiden brought up having a roommate crush when... you know," Nicholas muses.

"Yes. They'll figure it out."

"Eventually."

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! feed me with comments/kudos! XD


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